You don’t have to be a superstar to make connections, you just have to know how to reach people.

Nagina is the Founder of MasalaBody.com, a blog and weight loss coaching program for females and entrepreneurs. She lost 40 pounds after having 2 kids while having a demanding corporate career. When friends started asking her how to lose weight, she launched her business to help other busy women take control of their body and weight. And made ZERO DOLLARS!

We chat about this epic fail and how it led to the creation of her flagship 8-week coaching program, Spice Yourself Skinny. Became focused on upleveling and was a passion inside of her. Researching and responding to her audience and list building have been huge successes for her! On the side, she is still holding her day job. She’s been featured on People.com, Insider, Fox News.

Key Insights & Aha Moments

* She was a management consultant for a Top 4 firm in NYC. Was her dream job!

* It was everything she imagined, but she decided she wanted something bigger with more flexibility that worked in her life. Her entrepreneurial dream was planted!

* She didn’t know how to dream bigger until she achieved the biggest dream she had for herself

* How did she begin the entrepreneurial path after realizing it was what she wanted?

* Nagina didn’t even realize it was beginning as it was going on!

* By losing weight through a purposeful plan after having her second child and it quickly became the topic of conversation around her

* She started documenting her recipes and would share with people around her. She soon realized she wanted to spread it out to more people

* Soon, she worked on starting a simple website and blog

* Nagina took a course on how to create an online business and found that instead of sharing recipes, she wanted to focus on helping people lose weight. She now had a result to focus on.

* Her first week she got 101 subscribers through her positioning

* She listened to what people wanted! She began by doing what she wanted to create, but learned the key was to listen to her audience.

* Read between the lines

* Do the research and get it right up front!

* Began building this business on the side as a mom of 2 with her demanding job

* Would spend every free second working on her online business. When she was flying for work, she was always working!

* She would take vacation time from her day job and just work from home on her new business

* Was able to push forward and build her business because she got so much energy from it

* Made $30K her first year on the side, while still working full-time

* Nagina doesn’t have any fancy certifications or degrees in this work. She found that when she actually accomplished the goals she set out for herself and her clients saw it, that’s what they were after.

* Lesson is you don’t need to spend tons of money getting certifications in things that ultimately won’t matter.

* Things have changed today. You don’t need to go through all of these hoops and have degrees. People will believe you if you can help them and prove it.

* By doing, that’s how you get better, you train yourself, and people can see the results

* Took her about a year to realize her business was growing and was scaleable and took a step back in her corporate career.

* She still holds that corporate job today but goal is to ultimately leave her day job

* Didn’t want to worry about money at this point and is now able to make the investments in her business that she wants to

* Transitioned to more group programs to scale easier

* At first, it totally bombed and she didn’t make a thing. But it taught her what to change and now it’s better than she could have imagined

* Spent 3 months reviewing things and having people involved in helping her to change things.

* Special gift for Making The Maven Listeners – she is going to share her 3 easy recipes to banish late night cravings

Maven Moment

Focus on one thing at a time and get really good at it. This reminds me of a conversation I was having with one of my private clients. If you’re struggling with who you serve with your message and communicating what you do in a way that people aren’t taking action, the best thing is not to build an audience online. You need to work on practicing in the one-on-one environment. It gives you practice and become more smooth in your message. Communication is key for building a successful business! Shift your mindset, work locally and finesse that message and product!